It is estimated that four out of five users have unwanted software on their PCs. Many vendors have developed programs to remove these pieces of software. Typically, a collection of signatures is developed which represents each piece of unwanted software and the computer is searched for objects which match these signatures. The list of unwanted software is displayed to the user, and the user is given the option to remove and/or quarantine these objects. The problem with this approach is the need to develop an exact match for each piece of unwanted software which should be removed. This list of potentially unwanted software can grow indefinitely and needs constant updating. Moreover, at any given time there may be any number of entities developing and distributing potentially unwanted software, and it is difficult to install identifying signatures for each of them on every machine.
The embodiment of the present invention is directed to providing a system and method that overcome the foregoing and other disadvantages. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a system and method for identifying and removing unwanted software.